Within the last few years there as been an aggressive push on the part of government, professional organizations, and other authorities to institute a uniform EMR system. This includes generous subsidies allocated by recent legislation and mandatory legal requirements to occur in the next few years. As a practicing and academic physician with a masters degree in public health, I would like to briefly note some observations.

Intuitively, a uniform, easily accessible EMR seems like a very good idea. In fact, one of my major difficulties in practice occurs when a new patient arrives without copies of previous diagnostic studies or lists of medications. This is compounded in an incapacitated or elderly individual with many medical conditions and medications, and when there is a language barrier. Such patients may have great difficulty, or be incapable of, relaying this information to the new physician. To go online and immediately retrieve it would be very helpful indeed.

However, in these days of lower reimbursement and higher practice volumes, time spent imputing information may be time spent away from patient care. You may have experienced a visit where your doctor, using an EMR, has his eyes and hands on the computer much more than on you. I personally have accompanied relatives to physicians and emergency rooms where the doctor spent almost no time talking to, or examining the patient but instead sat in front of the computer, recording or retrieving information.

Also, these electronic records include templates where “check off” of existing information, rather than recording of original information is involved. This helps improve physician reimbursement by conforming with insurance company guidelines for level of service. It does little, however, to record the doctor’s thought processes or enhance the necessary medical information provided by this specific physician.

Don’t get me wrong. Good information is a good thing. But, it must be good for the patient and not just there to satisfy an insurance company. Also, it must contribute to, not detract from, the overall quality of care.

More and more people today are worried about the costs of long-term health care. They are worried if something happens to them they may run out of money and burn through their reserves. The average nursing home stay is 2.5 years of care and the average cost is over $130.00 per day. That is the average yet in many areas with nursing shortages and higher income demographics the rates are more significant. It is estimated that more than 10% of us who reach age 65 will nursing home care for more than 5-years.

It is very important to have long-term health care insurance to:

Protect your assets

Provide peace of mind

Provide assurance of quality care

Provide choice and control over receipt of care

Avoid dependence

Receive tax advantages

Paying for Long-Term Care? Here is The Bottom Line:

Medicare – This program may pay for skilled nursing facility care for a very short period of time – but no longer than 100 days – and only when you meet all the Medicare requirements for daily skilled care.

Medical – This program, called Medicaid outside California, may pay for skilled, rehabilitation and custodial care that is not covered by Medicare, but only if you first “spend-down” assets to federal and state legal impoverishment level guidelines.

Personal or Family Assets – Most people provide for long-term care expenses from personal or family income, assets and resources.

Long-Term Care Insurance Programs – Specially designed programs to pay for long-term health care expenses. HIPAA defines Federal tax treatment of insurance policies that provide long-term care coverage. Policies that meet certain criteria are designated as “qualified long-term care insurance” and will receive certain tax incentives: the cost of coverage may be deductible and long term care benefits received will not be reported as taxable income. Please consult your tax advisor for information about your personal situation.

Play it safe and know your options regarding long-term health care and know protect your assets. Think on this.

An international trade builds one alternative to exporting service is to import customers. Cross border travel for medical services in Dubai is a growing market in health care delivery, stimulated by demand from aging consumers in affluent nations. UAE can offer inexpensive but high quality treatment in modern hospitals is creating a boom in health care tourism in Dubai. The biggest and the most significant part of the health care system in Dubai takes place in dentistry. Lots of people all over Europe and Dubai residents prefer make their glam smile in Dubai. They can even combine dental treatment and recuperation with a vacation.

Nobody has collected the complete worldwide statistic about how many people travel to Dubai for dental and medical care related reasons every year or how many they spent. But UAE general report pointed out that in 2000, medical patients alone spent over 27$ billion. If the medical travelers from around the world spent in UAE even half as much that year, the total business in 2000 alone would have been in excess of 40% billion.

More importantly, Dubai is growing rapidly and turning out to be an immense opportunity for nations to come and have their dental treatment there. Most insurance companies in Dubai have already accredited hospitals and private clinics where visitors can seek emergency medical treatment. Now a few hospitals in Dubai are going a step further – they are getting themselves accredited by the Join Commission Accreditation of Health Care organization. A full accreditation from this organization allows a hospital to pitch for the insurance traffic too. Traveling has never been so healthy before.

America, often referred to as the melting pot, has many different cultures. Each state within America has different cultures. You can even drive to your neighboring city or town and find they have a slightly different culture than the people of your city or town. Actually, if you want to get technical, each household seems to have its own culture!

Each culture is defined by how the members of the culture interact with one another and the outside world; their traditions; their beliefs; what they consider socially acceptable. Some people define their culture by race, while others define their culture by region. Some people define their culture by education, while others define their culture by financial status. However a culture is defined, America has a plethora of them!

While cultures differ in many aspects, they are similar in one: they are made up of people – living, breathing, human beings – and all human beings have one thing in common, which is the ability to get sick or be injured.

It sounds so simple, but it’s so important. It doesn’t matter how much money you make; you can get sick. It doesn’t matter how many degrees you have; you can get injured.

Many people don’t purchase health insurance unless their employers offer it, and even then some people opt not to buy into their employer’s health care plan. At the same time, many Americans are either unemployed, or aren’t offered health benefits by their employers.

It doesn’t matter what color you are, where you live, how far you went in school, or how much money you have – everyone needs adequate health care. If you are one of the millions of Americans who doesn’t have a health insurance policy, you need to start searching for one now. Take advantage of your employer’s health benefits package, or, refer to your state’s insurance bureau to find health insurance companies that offer policies you can afford.

It is almost the end of the year. If one of your new year’s resolutions is physical fitness, I have a few tips that can help.

1) Focus on positive thinking. When you can keep up with your physical fitness plan, you should congratulate yourself every time. It is not easy to keep up with fitness plan. You really need to have a strong will. Be proud of yourself.

2) When you fall back from your fitness schedule, you should not berate yourself. Some people are too hard on themselves, and they never start over again. Your physical fitness New Year’s resolutions are the promise to yourself. They are not the test of your willpower.

3) You should stay away from unhealthy temptation as much as possible. If you are on the diet, you do not want to keep a huge bucket of ice cream in your refrigerator. It can only make your life harder.

4) Be realistic. Some people expect to achieve physical fitness over night. They make fitness plans that are impossible to keep. Realistic physical fitness plan must fit into your lifestyle. You must ask yourself, “Can I really go out for a run every evening?” If the answer is “No”, you may want to rethink your new year’s resolutions. If you know that you can not do them every evening, you may be able to do them twice a week.

5) Try to keep your resolutions with a friend. You can help encourage each other. A good friend will make your fitness resolutions fun.

Medical tourism is a booming industry and every year more and more medical tourists are visiting various destinations for receiving top quality treatment at affordable prices. As a medical tourist you need to do some research while selecting the country, hospital and doctor for your treatment. Also you need to make sure everything is planned well before you go abroad so at you have a pleasant medical trip and don’t have to face any complications in an unknown destination.

Below are some tips that can be helpful for your medical trip:

1. Research – All experts would recommend you to research a lot before you travel abroad. Researching will help you in understanding the procedure, risks involved, time for stay, recovery time etc and at the same time also help you from getting victim of any scams etc.
2. Always seek information about hospital accreditation, success rates, patient’s testimonials etc.
3. Check for doctor’s information like education, experience and boar certifications.
4. Consult if the treatment or procedure is safe.
5. Get information about the climate and weather conditions at the medical tourism destination.
6. Keep necessary contact information with you like relatives, friends, embassy, doctor etc.
7. Take necessary vaccines if needed before leaving the country.
8. Check is traveling abroad will be cost effective and also if it is safe to travel to the country.
9. Better seek the services of a medical tourism company, they specialize in medical travel thing and can arrange quotes for you very quickly. Also as they work with various hospitals you can have multiple options to choose from and select the one that best suits you.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease caused by gradual wear and tear of joints. Though the exact cause of osteoarthritis is not determined but many factors may contribute to the development of this disease. They include age, sex, hereditary, nerve injury, muscle weakness, obesity or occupation. But there is something which you can do to diminish your risk of getting osteoarthritis.

Practical Prevention of Osteoarthritis:

Keep your weight down: Research suggests that obese people are at risk of osteoarthritis and that weight loss prevents or delays osteoarthritis from occurring. Obese people posses a significant risk of developing osteoarthritis by putting unnecessary strain on the joints. Study shows that people who loose 11 pounds cut their risk of osteoarthritis to half.

Get enough calcium and vitamins C and D: One of the best ways to avoid bone osteoarthritis is the proper intake of vitamins especially calcium and vitamin D. Calcium is the major component of bone, and is therefore crucial to maintain bone density whereas vitamin D helps in absorption of calcium.

Intake of sufficient amount of calcium in diet: Adult should have a daily intake of 1,000-1,500 mg per day through diet and this will reduce the chances of getting osteoarthritis.

Take precautions at work: Researchers have linked osteoarthritis with repetitive tasks and with jobs that involve kneeling or squatting, especially when lifting heavy objects.

Strengthen muscle and joints through exercise: Exercise can help reduce joint pain and stiffness. Light to moderate-intensity physical activity may prevent or delay the process of bone degeneration.

Avoids sports injury: Avoid sport injury by taking proper precaution while playing or doing exercise. Precautions that you should take while exercising include using proper equipment and protective gear; cross training or varying your activities; taking a break if something hurts or you feel tired; and getting prompt care for injuries.

The development of the health of the world very rapidly now makes the emergence of new discoveries in anticipation of a disease or how to cure a disease.

While the definition of health is a prosperous state of body, soul, and the social that allows every person to live a socially and economically productive.

Health care is an effort to combating and prevention of health problems that require examination, treatment and / or treatment, including pregnancy and childbirth.

With increasing health consciousness of a nation will make the standard of living and economy of a nation’s level will be high. This makes many governments in various countries that provide health budget to more than 20% of their total expenditure per year.

Health Development Goals

For long-term health development is directed to the achievement of key objectives as follows:

1. Increased ability of communities to help themselves in the field of health.
2. Improvement of environmental quality that can ensure the health.
3. Improved nutritional status of the community.
4. Reduction of morbidity (morbidity) and death (mortality).
5. The development of healthy families prosper, with growing acceptance of small family norm of a happy and prosperous.

As for the basics of national development in health sector are as follows:

1. Every citizen is entitled to obtain an optimal level of health to work and live properly in accordance with human dignity.
2. Government and society are responsible for maintaining and enhancing people’s health status.
3. Implementation of health measures stipulated by the government and conducted in a harmonious and balanced by the government and society.

They cause family members to be concerned about the ability of seniors to be left at home alone where they could wander off, lose track of time and location or forget important things like paying bills or personal hygiene.

According to findings of a recent study conducted by a psychologist at the University of Virginia, mental abilities decrease with age. Crystallized intelligence and vocabulary usage decline over time. Also notable in the study was the concept that seniors’ recognition levels are higher with practice and repetition. Another study, one conducted by scientists at the University of California in San Francisco, found that seniors who participated in brain training activities with computer games were able to improve their short-term cognitive abilities.

In direct correlation with these scientific studies, it is often believed that seniors should engage in regular mental fitness exercises. This helps them to stay mentally active, be more independent and live a safer lifestyle. While these activities go above and beyond the traditional services provided by senior home health care services, they are available. Certain at-home health care companies provide non medical care for their clients that helps them to improve their mental capacities. They participate in activities such as playing cards and board games, reading books and magazines and attending plays, lecture series and musical concerts.

Those suffering from the effects of Alzheimer’s, dementia and other mentally debilitating chronic conditions need extra supervision to ensure their safety and quality of life. Healthcare providers should have additional training to help them handle the special situations that arise with these patients. This advanced interaction focuses on enriching life by focusing on the spirit, mind, body and family of the individual. Those with specialized at-home senior care are less likely to be in danger and more likely to stay engaged in social and mental activities.

Some of the symptoms of senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease include loss of attention span, loss of vision or hearing, confusion as to where and when they are, and difficulty in identifying people and things that should be familiar. Some seniors may exhibit inappropriate behavior or poor judgment that is unusual for them. Others may become easily agitated or emotional charged. Difficulty with short-term memory and math problems are also common.

Finally, the heart health experts agree with grandma’s adage. Her wisdom no longer goes against the medical code. Well known for her common sense wisdom, grandma would often say that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Anyone who has experienced an avoidable life altering event such as hospitalization due to a drinking binge, a severed toe from a whizzing lawn mower blade or a car crash while reading a text message will quickly tell you that “grandma” was right.

After much observation, investigation, and thousands of case studies the researchers believe that grandma’s philosophy holds the key to many of our current health care woes. They have proven that it is easier to prevent certain diseases than it is to cure them. Prevention has also proven to be the most effective way to reduce rising health care costs. It has become the preferred option for clinicians and patients alike. The new paradigm of preventative medicine has virtually replaced the old paradigm of disease state medicine as a first choice approach. The older approach focused primarily on the disease state,its management, and treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now claim that more than 75% of our diseases are preventable or reversible. Although many of us are seeking ways to take charge of our health profiles and improve our health status, the majority still fail miserably when it comes to reducing our risk for certain cancers, heart disease, and diabetes. In our quest for a preventative lifestyle change we often find ourselves imprisoned by the shackles of habit and ignorance.

In the Ancient text, Proverbs tells us that desire without knowledge is not good. Behavioral science has demonstrated that inspiration without information leads to frustration, and ultimately failure. Because most of us don’t understand why, we often choose behaviors that are counter- preventative, and become victims who can only react to a health crisis.

To achieve a lasting preventative life style change requires a clear understanding of the urgency for change. This is means more than “knowing your numbers”. It means knowing what your uncontrollable and controllable risk factors for heart disease are. Ask your health care professional what your numbers are and what they mean. Then follow your health care professional’s advice.Let this insight into your health status(risks vs outcomes) become the motivation to make for change that is necessary and lasting.